"Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men": How port became the "Englishman's wine," 1750s to 1800

Journal of British Studies

Volumn 48, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 364-390

  Ludington, Charles ^a  

^a DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 68949162172     PISSN: 00219371     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/596204     Document Type: Review

References (105)

1. The origins of this term are unclear. It has been attributed to George Saintsbury; however, in his Notes on a Cellar-Book (1920; repr., London, 1963), Saintsbury implies that the term had long been in use. What Saintsbury does say is that "port is the Englishman's wine, for it strengthens while it gladdens as no other wine can do, and there is something about it which must have been created in pre-established harmony with the best English character" (45)
2. Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899; repr., New York, 2001)
3. The literature on this subject is extensive. However, for general discussions of the complexity of consumer trends, see Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behavior and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (New York, 1988)
4. Beverly Lemire, The Business of Everyday Life (Manchester, 2005)
5. For coffee, see S. D. Smith, "Accounting for Taste: British Coffee Consumption in Historical Perspective," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no.2 (Autumn 1996): 183-214
6. Brian Cowen, The Social Life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffee House (New Haven, CT, 2005)
7. For tea and coffee, see John Burnet, Liquid Pleasures: A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain (London, 1999), chaps. 3 and 4
8. For tea, see James M. Scott, The Tea Story (London, 1964)
9. Denys Forrest, Tea for the British (London, 1973)
10. For cocoa, see J. Othick, "The Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the Nineteenth Century," in The Making of the Modern British Diet, ed. Derek Oddy and Derek Miller (London, 1976), 77-90
11. For tobacco, see Jordan Goodman, Tobacco in History: The Cultures of Dependence (London, 1993), chap. 4
12. David Kuchta, The Three-Piece Suit and Modern Masculinity: England, 1550 - 1850 (Berkeley, 2002)
13. and "The Making of the Self-Made Man: Class, Clothing, and English Masculinity, 1688-1832," in The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Comparative Perspective, ed. Victoria De Grazia and Ellen Furlough (Berkeley, 1996), 54-77
14. Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, trans. Richard Nice (Cambridge, MA, 1984)
15. The literature here is extensive, but see Victoria E. Bonnell and Lynn Hunt, eds., Beyond the Cultural Turn: New Directions in the Study of Society and Culture (Berkeley, 1999)
16. William H. Sewell, Logics of History: Social Theory and Transformation (Chicago, 2005), 318-372
17. Charles Davenant, A report to the Honourable Commissioners for Putting in Execution the Act, Intitled, An Act for the taking, examining, and stating the publick accounts of the Kingdom, 2 vols. (London, 1712), 2:58
18. See, for example, Slingsby Bethell, Esq., to Thomas Gordon, for wine delivered to the Old Bailey, 21 October 1751, BL Add. MSS 38854, fol. 147; petty ledger of James Pardoe, wine sales, 1741-1746, Worcestershire Record Office, County Hall, Worcester, Bulk Accession, 9504/1, 899:832
19. James Woodforde, The Diary of a Country Parson, 1758 - 1802, ed. John Beresford, 5 vols. (Oxford, 1981), 1: 12-13
20. André L. Simon, Bottlescrew Days: Wine Drinking in England during the Eighteenth Century (London, 1926), 73-75
21. See, for example: expense book of John Hervey, first Earl of Bristol, West Suffolk Record Office, Bury St. Edmonds, 941/46/13/14
22. wine books for London and Cannons, James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos, 1689-1742, Huntington Library, Stowe vol.60 (1-3)
23. an exact account of the late Earl of Sunderland's cellars, 13 June 1722, BL Add. MSS 61664, fol. 13
24. vouchers, 1657-1745, Cambridge University Library, Cholmondeley (Ch) (Houghton [H])
25. Simon, Bottlescrew Days, 73; expense book of John Hervey, West Suffolk Record Office, Bury St. Edmonds, 941/46/13/14
26. Vouchers, 1657-1745, Cambridge University Library, Ch (H). See also J. H. Plumb, Men and Places (London, 1953), 147-152
27. Parliamentary Report, BL, C.8706, 139
28. Vouchers, 1657-1745, Cambridge University Library, Ch (H)
29. See, for example, César de Saussure, A Foreign View of England in the Reign of George I and George II, ed. Madame Van Muyden (London, 1902), 99-100
30. In Vino Veritas; Or, a conference betwixt Chip the Cooper, and Dash the Drawer, (Being both Boozy), Discovering some secrets of the wine-brewing trade. Useful for all sorts of people to save their money and preserve their health (London, 1698), 11
31. Burnett, Liquid Pleasures, 160-178
32. Johann Wilhelm von Archenholz, A Picture of England, 2 vols. (London, 1789), 2:110-111
33. Generally speaking, the higher the alcohol content, the more stable the wine. This is one reason for the longevity of fortified wines such as port and madeira. For an extensive discussion of port production in the early eighteenth century, see Charles Ludington, "Politics, Power and the Taste for Wine in England and Scotland, 1660-1860" (PhD diss., Columbia University, 2003), 221-230
34. Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter, English Overseas Trade Statistics, 1697 - 1808 (Oxford, 1967), table 16
35. Hugh Johnson, Vintage: The Story of Wine (New York, 1989), 304
36. The Cellar-Book: or, the Butler's Assistant, in keeping a Regular Account of his Liquors (printed for J. Dodsley in Pall Mall, 1766). The copy of this rare book that I consulted is at the National Archives of Scotland, papers of the earls of Airlie, Gifts and Deposits 16/57/42
37. Johnson, Vintage, 304
38. Susannah Centlivre, A Gotham Election, in The Works of the Celebrated Mrs. Centlivre, ed. J. Pearson, 3 vols. (London, 1872), 3:158
39. Schumpeter, Trade Statistics, table 16
40. John Croft, A Treatise on the Wines of Portugal; and What can be Gathered on the Subject of the Wines, etc. Since the Establishment of the Factory at Oporto, Anno 1727: also, a Dissertation on the Nature and use of Wines in General, Imported into Great Britain, as Pertaining to Luxury and Diet (York, 1787), 7
41. For a general discussion of the various methods used to rectify and adulterate wines in the medieval and early modern periods, see Rod Phillips, A Short History of Wine (London, 2000)
42. and "Wine and Adulteration," History Today 50, no.7 (July 2000): 31-37
43. Particularly good examples of English rectifying manuals are The art and mystery of vintner's and wine coopers: containing approved directions for the conserving and curing all manner and sorts of wines, whether Spanish, Greek, Italian or French, very necessary for all sorts of people (London, 1682)
44. and Walter Charlton, The Vintner's Mystery Display'd: or the whole art of the wine trade laid open (London, 1726-29)
45. See, for example, D. S., Vinetum Angliae, or a new and easy way to make wine of English grapes and other fruit (London, 1672)
46. Thomas Tryon, The way to get wealth; or an easie way to make wine of gooseberries, equal to that of France (London, 1702)
47. Croft, Treatise on the Wines of Portugal, 7. Croft may have been familiar with this recipe because such wines were still being made in Britain during his lifetime
48. [Robert Walpole?], A letter from a Member of Parliament to his Friend in the Country, concerning the Duties on Wine and Tobacco (London, 1733)
49. A Vindication of the Conduct of the Ministry, in the Scheme of the Excise on Wine and Tobacco, proposed last sessions of Parliament: with a General Examination of the Reasons which determined the said Ministry to it: the Consequences and Events it would have had (London, 1734), 11-12
50. For a detailed discussion of why Walpole's 1733 excise bill failed, see Paul Langford, The Excise Crisis (Oxford, 1975)
51. For port export figures, see Joseph James Forrester, A short treatise on the unequal and disproportionate imposts levied on port-wine, shipped from Oporto to Great Britain (London, 1850), table B, 19-20
52. H. E. S. Fisher, The Portugal Trade: A Study of Anglo-Portuguese Commerce,1700-1770 (London, 1971), 78
53. Circular letter from the English factors at Oporto, called by them "New Instructions," September 1754, reprinted in [A Portuguese], The Wine Question Considered; or, Observations on the Pamphlets of Mr. James Warre and Mr. Fleetwood Williams, respecting the General Company for the Agriculture of the Vineyards on the Upper Douro, Known in England under the name of the Royal Oporto Wine Company (London, 1824), app. 2
54. "Response of the Douro wine brokers," September 1754
55. A. D. Francis, The Wine Trade (London, 1972), 207-24
56. Sarah Bradford, The Englishman's Wine: The Story of Port (London, 1969), 49-54
57. For examples of English complaints, see Original Documents Respecting the Injurious Effects and the Impolicy of a Further Continuance of the Portuguese Royal Wine Company of Oporto (London, 1813)
58. James Warre, The Past, Present and Probably the Future State of the Wine Trade; proving that an increase of duty caused a decrease of revenue; and a decrease of duty, an increase of revenue. Founded on parliamentary and other documents. Most respectfully submitted to the right honourable the President and Members of the Board of Trade (London, 1823)
59. Fleetwood Williams, Observations on the State of the Wine Trade. Occasioned by the Perusal of a Pamphlet on the same subject, by Mr. Warre. Most respectfully submitted to his Majesty's Ministers (London, 1824)
60. [A Portuguese], The Wine Question Considered
61. On the salubrious effects of Company interventions on wine quality, see Henri Enjalbert, "Comment naissent les grands crus: Bordeaux, Porto, Cognac," Annales: Economies, Societés, Civilisations 8, no.3 (1953): 466-69
62. Bradford, The Englishman's Wine, 53
63. William Younger, Gods, Men and Wine (Cleveland, 1966), 382
64. A. D. Francis demurs on this point, saying "there is no evidence that the Pombaline legislation had much effect on the quality of the wine sold in England one way or another" (Wine Trade, 214). Among historians of wine and wine writers, however, he stands alone in his assessment
65. Forrester, A short treatise, table C, 21
66. Francis, Wine Trade, 226
67. Jessica Warner, Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason (New York, 2002)
68. Peter Clark, "The Mother Gin Controversy in the Early Eighteenth Century," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., no.38 (1988): 63-84
69. Dorothy George, London Life in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1925)
70. Kathleen Wilson, "Empire of Virtue: The Imperial Project and Hanoverian Culture, c. 1720-1785," in An Imperial State at War: Britain from 1689 to 1815, ed. Lawrence Stone (London, 1994), 146
71. Karen Harvey, "The History of Masculinity, c. 1650-1800," Journal of British Studies 44, no.2 (April 2005): 296-311, 308
72. Eliza Haywood, "Effeminacy in the Army Censured," in The Female Spectator: Being Selections from Mrs. Eliza Haywood's Periodical, First Published in Monthly Parts, 1744-1746, ed. Gabrielle Firmager (London, 1993), 30
73. Gerald Newman, The Rise of English Nationalism (New York, 1987), 68-84
74. Wilson, "Empire of Virtue," 145
75. Kathleen Wilson, The Sense of the People: Politics, Culture and Imperialism in England, 1715-1785 (Cambridge, 1995), 189
76. Newcastle Journal, 11 September 1756
77. quoted in Wilson, Sense of the People, 189
78. Newman, English Nationalism, 68-84
79. Philip Carter, Men and the Emergence of Polite Society, Britain 1660-1800 (Harlow, 2001), 124-38
80. and Sense of the People, 185-205
81. See also Kathleen Wilson, "The Good, the Bad, and the Impotent: Imperialism and the Politics of Identity in Georgian England," in The Consumption of Culture, 1600-1800: Image, Object, Text, ed. Ann Bermingham and John Brewer (London, 1995), 237-62
82. John Brown, An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times, 2 vols. (London, 1757), 1: 66-67; 2:176, 40
83. Michèle Cohen, "'Manners' Make the Man: Politeness, Chivalry, and the Construction of Masculinity," Journal of British Studies 44, no.2 (April 2005): 314-317
84. and see also Fashioning Masculinity: National Identity and Language in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1996), 99-101
85. James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, ed. R. W. Chapman (Oxford, 1980), 1016
86. Edward Barry, Observations Historical, Critical, and Medical on the Wines of the Ancients. And an Anology between Them and Modern Wines. With General Observations on the Principles and Qualities of Water, and in Particular those of Bath (London, 1775), 439
87. Tavern bills from Luke Reilly to Richard Brinsley Sheridan, March-June, 1777, BL Add. MSS 44401, fols. 30-32
88. William Pitt's wine expenses, July 1784-June 1785, TNA: PRO 30/8/219, pt. 6, fol. 45
89. East Sussex Record Office, Lewes, A 741, S. A. S., 1792 - 1804
90. Common room accounts, Christ Church College, Oxford, MS C.R.2
91. "Theatre" (Drury Lane), The Times, 19 February 1798, 1
92. John Carl Flugel, The Psychology of Clothes (London, 1930)
93. Kuchta, The Three-Piece Suit and Modern Masculinity, and "The Making of the Self-Made Man," 54-77
94. Michael Snodin, "Style in Georgian Britain, 1714-1837," in Design and the Decorative Arts, Britain 1500-1900, ed. Michael Snodin and John Styles (London, 2001), 198-203
95. Fisher, Portugal Trade, 83. My own research in Vila Nova de Gaia shows that little had changed in the opening years of the nineteenth century. Most of the wine shipped to England was from the previous vintage, with older wines blended in. Letter book of Joseph Camo, 1808-12, Taylor, Fladgate, and Yeatman company archives, Vila Nova de Gaia, T/Z 1808-12/C5.P5
96. Younger dates the emergence of the cylindrical bottle from "some time around 1760," in Gods, Men and Wine, 352
97. For more detailed evidence, see Robin Butler and Gillian Walkling, The Book of Wine Antiques (Woodbridge, 1986)
98. Derek C. Davis, English Bottles and Decanters, 1650 - 1900 (New York, 1972)
99. and Jancis Robinson, ed., The Oxford Companion to Wine, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1999), 96-98
100. Catalog for auction held on 1 April 1773, Christie's company archives
101. Barry, Observations Historical, Critical, and Medical, 439
102. Pierre-Jean Grosley, A Tour to London; or New Observations on England and its Inhabitants, trans. Thomas Nugent, 2 vols. (London, 1774), 1:81-82
103. John Byng, The Torrington Diaries: Containing the Tour Through England and Wales of the Hon. John Byng (later Viscount Torrington) between the Years 1781 and 1794, ed. C. Bruyn Andrews, 4 vols. (New York, 1935), 2:49, 3:192
104. For details on the amounts of aristocratic consumption, see Ludington, "Politics, Power and the Taste for Wine," chap. 6
105. Alexander Henderson, The History of Ancient and Modern Wines (London, 1824), 12